GUIDELINES FOR AUDIO-VISUAL PRODUCTION

This module outlines the key issues to be kept in mind while creating high-quality audio-visual material on entrepreneurship education to share with and distribute to students, faculty, working professionals, potential and/or start-ups and high-growth entrepreneurs in India and across the world. There are three phases of creating the audio-visual content: I. II. III. I. Pre-production- plan and budget for the shoot, hire talent & equipment Production- video and sound recording Post-production- editing the video and final output

Pre-production & planning

The pre-production & planning phase involves scriptwriting, hiring the right team and equipment to ensure relevant and high- quality output. Scriptwriting/scripting For most audio-visual products, there will be some basic scriptwriting involved to record the relevant content. For instance, if you are recording a public event like the Lock, Stock and Trade or BioZing, to create a marketing piece such as an audio-visual for raising sponsorship, some amount of basic scripting would be required. You would need to prepare a list of questions to ask the audience to get feedback, decide which parts of the program are important enough to film and also have a rough shooting schedule planned out for the day. Ideally, you could also write the final voiceover in advance so that all the footage can be recorded based on the narrative. This may not be possible in all the cases, but it is important to think through the end use of the product. On the other hand, if you are recording a lecture/talk, it will probably be a straightforward recording of the person delivering the lecture and the audience response. However, if you would like to do a follow-up interview with the speaker, it is important to prepare some questions, in advance. Given the long duration of workshops and seminars, around 8 hours or more, one would need to identify which parts are critical to the final output and record only those portions. This will need to be thought of in advance as well, and the cameraperson will have to be briefed accordingly. Hiring the right team It is important to get a cameraperson and sound engineer who clearly understand the requirement of the final product. It is worth spending more money to hire a qualified professional cameraperson rather than getting people from photo studios etc. who are used for videography. Professionals will ensure good quality filming and sound recording, based on a clear brief (discussed below in II).

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Budget A general rule of thumb to follow while budgeting is that if it is a 1-day event with 1 camera, 1 cameraman, 1 sound engineer and basic light equipment, it will cost you approximately Rs.20,000- Rs. 25,000 (refer to Appendix 1: Baseline costs for Audio visual production). Hiring high quality equipment Based on the budget and requirement for the event: Video recording equipment (recommendation) PD- 150 or 170 DV camera (or equivalent) & tripod Lights (Soft box and/or whatever the cameraperson recommends based on the available lighting)

Most audio-visual products are sub-standard due to poor sound quality. It is imperative that you get someone who will use the right equipment to capture sound during the event. Sound recording equipment (recommendation) Sound mixer Lapel mics Boom mic (hand-held mic)

For this purpose, the mini- DV format is most suitable. A 60-minute tape records 40- 45 minutes of footage in the mini-DV format. The tapes are available widely and at a fairly low cost (Rs. 150 to 200). II. Production- shooting the video Prior to the event or at least on the day of the shoot, it is important to brief the technical team on the agenda, style of filming and focus of the content to get the desired output. It is not necessary to have a written document but someone from the institution needs to concentrate on the briefing to get the relevant content recorded. Briefing the technical team It is important to spend 10-15 minutes with the technical team to discuss the days proceedings. They will need information and clarity on: The basic agenda and flow of events Where the speakers will stand in the room while presenting The number of people who will be talking at one time From the filming and sound point of view, who is of primary, secondary importance etc. So that they can move the camera to the relevant angles and setup the mics accordingly.

Filming & framing the shot The style of filming is critical and will need to be decided beforehand. There are some standard guidelines to follow while filming certain activities like talks, workshops and public events. For lectures/talks The speaker should be recorded primarily in mid-shot (from above the waist to the top of the head). This can be interspersed with some close-ups (above the shoulders) and long shots (full body length) depending on how the cameraperson chooses to vary the framing.

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If you have a second camera, it is good to get some footage of the audience. However, if you are using only one camera, the cameraperson can decide to take shots of the audience while they are listening to the talk or during the Q & A session. For workshops/seminars The center of the room/podium/stage is the primary recording area during a workshop or seminar. People will walk up to the center to share their views with or without powerpoint presentations and other audio/visual aids. In an interactive session, the cameraperson will need a clear brief on: - The timing of each session - How many people will be speaking during each session to ensure each of the people are captured on individual lapel mics or the boom mic - A rough idea of the seating arrangement to capture the interaction between the main speaker and members of the audience, etc. If you think, the main speaker and the audience responses are equally important, it is advisable to use a 2-camera setup. However, for most recordings one camera will be sufficient. The shots can be framed in different ways- using mid shots and close-ups for the main speaker, mid-shots for the audience and some generic long shots of the rest of the audience in the room and other establishing shots of the location where the event is taking place. For public events This is a dynamic environment to film and the technical team should be briefed well in advance of the session. One person- faculty or student- should always accompany the cameraperson and sound engineer to film the entire event. This person would be the producer for the audio/visual. Along with the shooting schedule and script (questions for the people etc.), the producer and the technical team can be at the right place at the right time to shoot the activities. The cameraperson will use his/her judgment to frame the shot depending on what he/she is filming. Long shots will capture the general feel and excitement of the event, close-ups will be good for audience interviews, and a combination of mid and long shots will work well for the other talks, presentations, workshops etc. taking place during the day.

Sound recording For controlled environments like lectures, workshops and seminars, high quality of sound recording can be maintained with good equipment. For public events and activities where the number of people involved is large, the ambient sounds can interfere with the main activity. There are some guidelines to follow which can help in capturing good sound even in less controlled environments: Choose a closed room with fewer people to do interviews

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Using a lapel mic that feeds directly into the camera results in better sound unless the time is short and the boom/hand-held mic needs to be used. Q& A etiquette for a sit-down interview: The person asking the questions should ensure that his or her voice should not overlap with the person being interviewed. For instance, while the person being interviewed is answering a question, there is a tendency to say yes, I agree in order to acknowledge what he/she is saying but that can cause the sound byte to become unusable in the final edit. The person asking questions should nod silently and wait till the interviewee has finished his/her sentence before following up with the next question.

III. Post- production- editing the video and final output If the first two phases are handled efficiently, the final editing process is much simpler. Paper edit Writing down the final version of the edited product is helpful before going to the studio to finalize the clips. An easy way to do the paper edit is to transfer all the DV tapes to a VCD format (this can be done at most photo processing labs). Play it back on your computer, make detailed notes on which portions are good to use, the sequence of events, make a note of the clip duration from the in point (start) to the out point (end). Type or handwrite the whole script and then go in for the final edit. Once you have lined up the sequence of clips, it will also be easy to add a voice-over if required. You can use most of the lectures/talks, workshops and seminars without a voice over but it will become necessary to create a narrative for the shorter audio-visuals of public events. Editing at the studio/machine Studios are expensive to hire and the paper edit will be helpful in completing the job faster and cheaper. The benefit of getting the final product edited at a studio is to ensure high-quality sound output. Sound levels can be adjusted correctly to ensure good playback quality. The person in-charge from the Institute can supervise the edit. He/she will need to sit with the editor, tell him/her what portions of the footage need to be used and then approve the final version.

Final output format All studios can create VCD and DVDs of the audio/visual material. The basic difference is the pixel quality and file size- VCDs have a lower pixel quality and a smaller file size and vice-versa for DVDs. Since these audio-visual products will be used for educational purposes and not for broadcast, getting the final output in VCD or DVD form that plays back on the computer is ideal (for more details on media formats refer to Appendix 2: Glossary of media formats) Studios most often send files in QuickTime format since it converts quickly, is relatively highquality and the file is not too heavy. However, you must ensure that the editor/studio converts the video file to WMV or MPG format that can be viewed through Windows Media Player installed on most computers. These two file formats are most compatible with computer systems all over the world.

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Playback Since you will mostly playback the video on your own laptop, on the institutes computers or on the web, please ensure that you have taken the final output in WMV (Windows Media Video). Archive the final output After the final edit is complete and youve taken the output on a VCD/ DVD or both, it is very important to archive the final video on a digital format. You should purchase a Digi Beta tape (costs Rs. 400-600) and save the final output directly from the editing suite. This Digi Beta tape can be stored at the institutes library or somewhere else, away from moisture and direct sunlight. More questions? If you have doubts or queries, please write to Leila Karnik at [email protected]

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